Another Room With A Different View
by readbetweenthesigns
Summary: It's been almost twelve years since Puck, Quinn and Beth went to New Haven, something big is just about to hit them... M for language and minor adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied.**

**A/N: It's been nearly twelve years since Puck, Quinn and Beth moved from Lima to New Haven...how are they doing?**

"She looks so beautiful, so poised," Quinn whispered to Puck as they sat in the audience among the other parents, the grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. She'd already growled at him because as usual, Puck had arrived late and that had seriously pissed Quinn off. For a change. Not.

"Yeah, she looks amazing up there," Puck agreed proudly. He really wanted to stand up and whistle loudly, cheer his baby on, but Quinn had already stopped him from doing that. Apparently, a ballet recital wasn't the place to stomp and cheer 'like a hooligan'. At least, it wasn't in the rules according to Quinn. And who was Puck to argue with someone who was the supreme keeper of all knowledge on every subject under the sun?

Beth went through her routines, first her solo then the piece with the other kids. She'd seen her mom and dad in the third row and she'd had a beaming smile on her face ever since her dad had waved at her. Beth had been worried that her dad wouldn't be able to come to see her dance today, her mom had said that her dad was really busy at work and might not be able to make it, but he had, he'd come, he hadn't let her down. Beth had heard her mom and dad shouting about it last night when she woke up to go to the bathroom. Beth heard her mom and dad shouting at each other a lot these days. And she didn't like it.

"Baby, you were wonderful," Puck cried when Beth ran to him, as soon as she was released from her ballet teacher's debrief. Puck hugged Beth tight but he managed to resist the urge to pick her up and spin her round. "I think we should go out for dinner tonight, what do you think?" he asked Beth but looked at Quinn for her answer.

"I'm not sure, I'm really tired," Quinn started to answer uncertainly, Puck sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Again? Seriously?" he thought. Every time he came up with any sort of suggestion lately, she knocked it back. For fuck's sake. He wasn't talking about spending their life freakin' savings on a trip to the freakin' moon, he was talking about stopping off at Kinahara Kosher, a local restaurant they'd discovered soon after their move to New Haven, a place where he could get a really decent Kosher meal, because he damn sure couldn't get one at home, Quinn had never quite got the whole Kosher deal. Then Quinn asked the million dollar question.

"Where were you thinking of going?" Quinn asked, there was definitely a weary hint to her voice, Puck recognised it, then ignored it.

"I was thinking, Kinahara," Puck answered, hopefully.

"I might have known you'd want to go _there,_" Quinn hissed. "No," she replied, "I _do not_ want to go out to dinner tonight," she stated, her voice was like cut glass and her eyes were like chips of ice.

"Fine," Puck sighed. "I don't know what your problem is lately," he said quietly as Beth ran ahead to excitedly make plans for the weekend with one of her friends, "but do you think we can at least be civil to each other in public?" he asked, although his voice was as cold and as hard as Quinn's had been.

"Fine," Quinn replied, but managed to make it sound like she meant anything but 'fine'.

* * *

"Fuck knows," Puck sighed a couple of days later as he sipped his beer. "I have absolutely no idea what I've done to piss her off, but I must have done something and it must be fucking huge because this has been going on for months," he said into his phone. "Look, do you think you can get Frannie to talk to her? Find out what's up? I mean, she just won't talk to me and to be honest, I'm getting kind of pissed off with all the arguing and fighting and the cold fucking shoulder," he muttered. "Thanks Karl," he said to his brother-in-law before he ended the call.

"Life's a bitch, sugar," a husky female voice said beside him.

"And then you marry one," Puck finished the phrase with a self-mocking snort. He glanced to his side and found the hostess from his favourite restaurant, sitting on the stool next to him. "Hi Dana," he said. "Drink?" he offered, catching the eye of the bartender, he was ready for a refill anyway.

"Don't mind if I do," Dana answered with a flirty grin. "So, what's happening in your life right now, handsome? Besides you being in the doghouse at home," she asked. "I'll just have a beer," she answered the question from the bartender. "You and the missis hit a rough patch?" she inquired with a slightly playful look on her face. Puck sighed. He didn't really want to answer the question. For one thing, he felt it might be a bit disloyal to Quinn, answering questions like that and for another, he didn't want to think that they couldn't work this out. Whatever _this_ was. "I'm a good listener," Dana encouraged with a sultry hint to her voice, she smiled and nudged Puck's knee with her own. Puck glanced at their touching knees, he couldn't stop his eyes from drifting up the length of her smooth, tight, tanned thigh to the hem of her exceedingly short skirt. He swallowed hard.

Puck was well aware of the less than subtle flirting that Dana was indulging in, same as he was aware of the more subtle version she demonstrated every time he went into the restaurant. She didn't particularly care either if he was with Quinn or alone, if they came in for dinner or if he called in through the day to pick up some takeout for lunch, she still flirted. Puck was also aware that he wasn't completely immune to that flirting, it sparked an excitement in him that he hadn't realised he had been missing. Until now. Puck turned further towards Dana, he couldn't stop the half smile from tugging up one side of his mouth or the glint that appeared in his eyes.

"Want to get out of here?" Dana murmured as she leaned closer to Puck, her firm breasts brushed against his gloriously muscled and beautifully tattooed arm. Dana had deliberately leaned that close, used the excuse that the bar had become a lot noisier. "Want to go somewhere, maybe? Somewhere quiet?" she asked breathlessly and allowed her hand to 'accidentally' brush over his groin.

Puck saw the pulse beating in her throat and felt his mouth go dry. He licked his lips and swallowed, his eyes locked onto the thump, thump, thump of that vein. Puck took a moment to breathe, then raised his eyes to look directly into hers. "Thanks, but no," he answered. "I think it's time I went home, to my wife and my daughter," he said decisively. "Goodnight Dana," he added before he swallowed the last of his beer and left the bar. "What the fuck were you thinking?" he chided himself as he walked back towards the garage to collect his truck. "Fuck," he sighed, Puck knew that he'd had far too much to drink to get behind the wheel and drive home. "Shit," he breathed and took a second to mentally kick his own ass and knock himself back into reality. Puck pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Joe? Hi. Want to do me a favour?" he asked hopefully. "Cool, I'm at work, see you in ten."

"S'up?" Joe, the young apprentice, asked as soon as he arrived at the garage. "What did you need me to do?"

"Drive me home," Puck answered. "I need you to drive me home," he sighed, pissed with himself for doing this again, to himself and the kid.

"No problem," Joe said with a grin. "Keys?" he suggested, holding his hand out for Puck's keys.

"Cheers," Puck muttered as he climbed into the passenger seat of his truck and Joe climbed into the driver's seat. "Did Steve mention the extra shifts to you?" he asked.

"Yep and thanks, I appreciate it," Joe replied. He was grateful for the extra money. Joe was trying desperately to support his family on the money he earned outside of school hours, just like Puck had done before he graduated from WMHS. Joe was in almost the same position, he was a senior at Wilbur Cross High School, where Quinn worked as a guidance counselor. Joe was taking care of his girlfriend, who had dropped out of high school, and their six month old son. Puck saw a lot of himself in Joe. They drove in silence until they reached Puck's house, Puck was lost in thought, trying to figure out his life. "Doesn't look like anyone's up," Joe commented as they both got out of the truck.

"Quinn and Beth will probably be in bed already," Puck replied as he dragged a note out of his pocket. "Here you go, thanks bud," he said, slapping a twenty into Joe's palm. "See you after school tomorrow," he added as Joe walked away down the street. Joe waved before he turned the corner, just as Puck went into the house. Puck leaned against the heavy wooden door and sighed, he knew if Quinn woke up there would be another fight. Was he ready for this? He wasn't sure.

"Where have you been?" Quinn demanded as she switched the hall light on, blinding Puck in the process.

"Kelly's," Puck replied with the name of the bar that he tended to frequent after work. He stayed where he was, propped against the door, he didn't think it was wise to move just yet. Puck decided he might as well just wait for Quinn to get pissed, yell at him, tell him he wasn't getting into her bed tonight and then flounce off to their bedroom where she'd slam the door so he'd know she meant it, then he could wobble his way to the den and crash there till morning. He already knew he was going to wake up mushed into the oversized, comfortable sofa, with a killer headache and a sandpaper tongue.

"You couldn't even remember that we had a conference with Beth's teacher this evening?" Quinn demanded. "You know she's acting out at school, right?" she asked. "Why would I even imagine you'd be bothered?" she sighed to herself. "You know what, Puck?" she asked without expecting an answer. "This isn't working for me right now," she informed him. Puck didn't respond, he wasn't sure that he could. His brain was slowly processing what Quinn was saying. What the hell did she actually mean by that? Puck tried to concentrate. What was she talking about? "I think you should look for somewhere, an apartment or something," she added before her voice caught in her throat.

"You want me to move out?" Puck asked in disbelief, he felt like he'd been slapped across the face or kicked in the nuts. "What the fuck?" he thought. Sure, they'd had a few arguments lately, a few fights, but Jeez? Move out? Seriously? What the fuck?

"I can't be near you right now," Quinn answered through her tears, she was trying like hell to stop herself from crying but she wasn't making a very good job of it. "It's too hard, I think you should go, now. Tonight," she added firmly as she turned away from him, she couldn't look at him, she didn't want to.

"No. No," Puck stuttered, he felt befuddled, sideswiped. Where the hell had that come from? "No, I'm not moving out. We can work this out, Quinn," he insisted. "I don't even...you don't talk to me, you won't tell me what's wrong, I don't know what I've done that's pissed you off so much that you won't even speak to me. _Please,_ Quinn. We can work this out," he pleaded. "Talk to me, Quinn," he begged quietly, "tell me what's wrong, tell me how to fix this."

"I'm pregnant," Quinn whispered without turning around. The second the words escaped from Quinn's lips, her breath stalled, she couldn't breathe at all, it was like she'd breathed out but her body couldn't remember how to breathe in. Quinn started to crumple to the ground, Puck sobered up in an instant and caught her just before she hit the floor.

"Shhh, it's ok, I've got you," Puck murmured into her hair over and over again as he rocked her, comforted her. Quinn became aware that they were huddled together on the floor, with her back against his chest and that she was crying almost uncontrollably. "Shhh," Puck repeated. "A baby?" he asked with a smile as he hugged Quinn to him. "Seriously? We're pregnant again? When is it due?" he threw the questions at her, Puck couldn't control the stupid grin or the thrill, the pride that shimmered through him.

"End of June," Quinn sniffed, she couldn't say anything else, she was still having difficulty in controlling the sobs. "I think," she added to herself.

"Same month as Beth," Puck commented, he didn't know what else to say, Quinn still sounded pissed. "Does Frannie know? Your mom? Anyone?" he asked as he counted in his head. Four months? She was four months pregnant already and hadn't told anyone? What the hell was she thinking? Puck looked back at Quinn for her to answer, she shook her head and sniffed again. "How long have you known?" he asked, he felt like he was having to extract the information syllable by syllable.

"Six weeks," Quinn admitted. "Maybe eight," she corrected herself silently. "Or ten."

"You've known for six weeks and you didn't _say_ anything?" Puck asked. He was shocked, stunned actually, that Quinn would keep something like this to herself. What was she thinking? "You don't think you should have maybe mentioned this before?" he suggested. Now _he_ was pissed. God. Puck shook his head and held on to his temper. Just. For fuck's sake. What had she intended to do? Wait till she was in labour _then_ tell him? He sure as shit wouldn't know from looking at her or touching her, she hadn't undressed in front of him in ages and just recently, every time he tried to hold her or hug her, even in bed, she pulled away, moved out of his reach.

"I don't want it," Quinn cried then sobbed even harder. She couldn't put her feelings into words, she couldn't voice how intensely sad she felt, how distraught, how devastated. "I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it," she sobbed, repeating the words over and over again, quietly, through her tears.

"Hey, hey, come on," Puck muttered, he really wasn't sure how to say anything to her right now or even what to say to her. "Why?" he asked. Had she felt this way when she found out that she was pregnant with Beth? Was she just in denial? What?

"We're thirty years old, Puck," Quinn sighed as she used her sleeve to wipe the tears from her face, she really didn't know how she was going to explain this. "We've been parents for almost half of our lives, we've been married for almost that long, too," she reminded him.

"Yeah, so?" Puck replied with a shrug, his arms were still around Quinn, they were still on the floor of the hallway.

"I thought, now that Beth is so independent, I just thought that I-we would have more time to ourselves," Quinn explained then burst into tears again. "And now that won't happen till we're in our forties," she wailed. "I thought we wouldn't be tied down anymore with diapers, bottles, day care and stuff. I just want my mom," she sobbed desperately.

"Holy crap," Puck sighed. "This is what's been eating at you for the last couple of months?" he asked. Quinn nodded. "Shit Q," he murmured, "we always said we'd have more kids, right?" he said and jiggled her a little. "I mean, I always knew we wouldn't have just Beth, I'm just shocked that it didn't happen before this," he told her with a grin. "And we'll call your mom tomorrow, maybe invite her up to stay for a couple of weeks?" he suggested.

"God, no," Quinn shuddered as she sniffed and giggled simultaneously. "She'd drive me bat shit crazy inside two days."

"Well, whatever, we'll still call everyone tomorrow and tell them the news, right?" Puck encouraged.

"I suppose," Quinn reluctantly agreed. She hadn't told anyone because actually saying it, telling people, it made it all real, it meant she wouldn't be able to bury her head in the sand anymore.

"Mom?" Beth called quietly from the top of the stairs. "Is everything alright?" she asked, looking worriedly at her parents who seemed to be tangled together in a heap on the floor near the living room doorway.

"Everything is fine, go back to bed," Puck said gently with a smile towards Beth.

"I heard you crying," Beth added, giving Quinn a searching stare. "Are you ok?"

"I think we should just tell her now," Puck whispered to Quinn. "I hate to think she's worrying about us," he added, he remembered the days before his mom and dad had finally split. The constant, endless arguments, the screaming and throwing of things, it was awful, just awful. He and Quinn hadn't got to _that_ point, not quite, but it still must have been upsetting for Beth if she'd heard them arguing over the last couple of months. Quinn sighed and nodded. "Come down here for a minute," he called to Beth, smiling at her so that she knew everything was really ok.

Beth walked slowly, a little nervously, down the stairs. Her heart was in her mouth, she didn't really want to say that she hadn't been asleep when her dad had come home, she'd been in bed texting her boyfriend - someone her dad didn't know about and she sure as hell wasn't brave enough to tell him. Beth had put her phone down to listen when she'd heard her mom tell her dad that she wanted him to move out. Beth didn't want her dad to move out, she really didn't, she didn't want her parents to split up. "S'up?" she asked as she knelt on the floor with her mom and dad, she tried to stem the involuntary shiver.

"We have some news for you," Puck began. Beth's heart jumped into her mouth and she shivered even more. "You're going to be a big sister," he added happily. "Isn't that great?" he asked with a big, beaming grin.

Beth let go of a shuddering breath that she hadn't even known that she was holding. _Holy crap._ As her dad often said. "This is what they've been fighting about?" she asked herself. Beth looked carefully at her mom. She didn't look very happy, not like her dad did. He looked thrilled to bits. "A baby?" Beth asked quietly after she'd gulped a couple of times. "You're pregnant?"

"That's right," Puck answered when it appeared that Quinn had been struck dumb.

"When?" Beth demanded. She wasn't entirely sure she liked this turn of events. Her mom certainly didn't seem to be enjoying it, in fact, she looked like she wanted to either throw up or cry. Or both.

"It's due at the end of June," Quinn said quietly and again added 'I think' in her head then trembled. Quinn had to swallow hard, she felt like puking right there in the hall. And she'd be the one who'd have to clean it up.

"I'll be fourteen by then," Beth commented randomly and without enthusiasm. Oh God. That meant her mom and dad still _did it_. Eeeewwwwww. Oh no. No. No. No, no, no, no, her mom and dad didn't do _that,_ they were _way_ too old. Urgh. "That's just disgusting," Beth thought, but wisely kept that thought to herself. "Do you know what it is?" she asked, she knew that doctors could tell that stuff with the ultrasounds they did, she'd learned all that in biology last year, along with all the other crap that girls have to go through. Blah. Periods. At least her mom wouldn't have any of those for a while.

"No, I haven't...errm, I err, no," Quinn stumbled to answer. In reality, the only thing she'd managed to do was pee on a stick that had told her exactly how many weeks and days pregnant she was. And it was a lot by the time she'd actually plucked up the courage to do it. She had yet to go and see a doctor. She'd sort of tried to ignore it, hoped it would go away. "Jesus, Quinn, you aren't fifteen years old anymore," she berated herself in silence. "So why do I feel like I am?" the little voice inside her head asked.

"I think we should all go to bed, get a good night's sleep and then we'll all have breakfast together tomorrow morning before work and school, ok?" Puck suggested hopefully. He was fairly sure he hadn't heard Quinn throwing up in the mornings - he would probably have noticed that - so hopefully, breakfast wasn't a suggestion that would upset her.

"Cool. Can we have pancakes?" Beth asked with a grin at her dad.

"Sure," Puck replied, then kissed Beth's forehead before she leaned to kiss her mom. "Night," he said softly and winked at her as she sprinted lightly up the stairs. "Are we good now?" he asked Quinn quietly.

"I think so," Quinn replied, her voice a tiny little squeak. She still didn't sound like her normal self, but at least she didn't sound pissed.

"Can we go to bed? Together?" Puck asked with another hug around her. Quinn nodded. "Good," he sighed. "I have missed you," he groaned against the side of her throat, "so much."

* * *

"Ok, so, Quinn, this will be a little chilly," the doctor reminded her with a smile. Quinn couldn't help but suck in a breath as the icy, blue gel spurted onto her stomach, onto her slightly protruding stomach. "Here we go," he muttered to himself as he moved the transducer over the gel and concentrated on the picture on the screen.

Puck sat by the head of the bed, his fingers absently played with strands of Quinn's hair while they waited - not particularly patiently - for the prognosis from Doctor Clark. He glanced down and saw that Quinn was looking up at him with tear-sparkled eyes. Puck gave a little nod of his head, a what's up sort of motion. Quinn shook her head and glanced away. Puck took hold of her trembling hand and laced their fingers together. He couldn't remember the last time they'd held hands that way, so tightly locked together. And he felt the loss of it, like he'd been missing out on something.

"Ok," Dr Clark breathed then turned the screen further towards the nervous, anxious parents. "Quinn, I think you know what I'm about to tell you, right?" he queried.

Puck gulped. "Tell us what?" he croaked then swallowed hard. "Is something wrong?" he asked nervously.

"Oh, no, no, nothing is wrong," Dr Clark assured Puck then smiled gently at Quinn. "The pregnancy is progressing quite normally," he said. "You are, as I think you already know, just over eighteen weeks pregnant," he advised. "Do you want to know the sex of the baby?" he asked with a hopeful smile, he clearly loved this part of his job.

Puck looked to Quinn. Yes, he hoped she'd say yes. They'd known long before Beth was born that she was a girl and he hadn't been there with her for that, when the doctor had told her that, Finn had, he'd been there and Puck felt slightly cheated out of that moment. "Yes," Quinn whispered, her fingers were still locked with Puck's, she looked back at him and their eyes locked too.

"It's a girl," Dr Clark announced the second the word left Quinn's lips.

"A girl," Puck repeated almost silently as they both looked at the monitor. He couldn't take his eyes off the screen where their baby girl was swimming and shimmying around. "She'll be beautiful, just like you, just like Beth," he whispered as he bent to kiss Quinn.

For the first time in months, Quinn didn't turn away when Puck tried to kiss her. But she still didn't know yet. She still didn't know if he really wanted to be with her, if he really loved her or if he was just with her out of pity, familiarity. Quinn wanted to ask, she wanted to get it out in the open but she couldn't, she couldn't get the words out. They were all there, in her head, she just couldn't force them past her lips. She needed to know if Puck would stay with her. The reason she hadn't wanted to say anything about the pregnancy, hadn't wanted to tell him, was that she didn't want the baby to be the only reason he stayed. She didn't want that to be the only reason he stopped seeing her, stopped seeing that other woman. Stopped seeing Dana. And he still didn't know that she knew.

* * *

"Hey, Nana," Beth said with a grin at her nana Moya on the computer screen. "How are you?" she asked.

"I'm very well, Beth, thank you," Moya replied with a loving smile at her beautiful granddaughter. "And you?" she asked, Beth replied with the usual pleasantries. "I understand that your ballet recital was wonderful," she said with a barely hidden smile. Moya had adored watching the footage that Quinn had sent to her, she'd poured over every frame, shown it to people at work, she was so proud of her beautiful, talented granddaughter.

"Of course," Beth replied prissily. "I am after all, the granddaughter of a prima ballerina," she said, then giggled in a totally self-mocking way. "Sorry, I mean I_ know_ the granddaughter of a prima ballerina," Beth giggled. But it was true. Suze, her best friend in the whole world, was the granddaughter of a former Moscow City Ballet principal dancer. "When are you coming up to visit?" she asked, she felt like she hadn't seen her nana for ages, not in person anyway.

"Hey," Puck called over Beth's shoulder as he came in from working in the yard and found her talking to his mom. "Hi mom, did Beth tell you the news yet?"

"No, what news?" Moya asked, intrigued. Something good she hoped. Over the last couple of months Beth had confided in her that her mom and dad didn't seem to be getting along and she'd seen for herself that Noah looked strained and tired whenever they spoke on the computer. So did Quinn, for that matter. "Something about the baby?" she asked, hopefully.

"We had the ultrasound today," Puck said with a grin, "and you're getting another granddaughter," he announced proudly.

"Oh how lovely," Moya cried and clasped her hands together, although in truth, she didn't care what the baby was, boy or girl, as long as both it and Quinn were healthy. "Perfect, how's Quinn?" she asked. It had been a huge surprise to everyone when they'd been told, just a couple of days ago, that Quinn was pregnant with their second child. It had seemed like Puck was still in shock when he had told everyone the news. "Did the doctor say anything else?" she asked.

"Not really, everything is progressing normally, baby is a good size already, Quinn has to watch her blood pressure and her sugar levels again, they're concerned about gestational diabetes the same as before, but they'll keep an eye on her, everything is cool, right, Beth?" he said, passing on the important points that the doctor had discussed with them. Beth nodded happily.

"And did we get pictures?" Moya asked hopefully, she was excited to see the first images of her new granddaughter.

"We did, I'm uploading them right now," Puck replied and tapped a couple of buttons on his phone. Quinn had done the same thing about an hour ago for Frannie. "They should be in your inbox," he told his mom. "I'm going to shower so I'll see you later. Don't be too long, Beth, we're going out to dinner tonight to celebrate, don't forget," he reminded her, "Consiglio's, your mom's craving Italian," he said with a grin and an indulgent roll of his eyes.

"Ok, dad," Beth replied and leaned back so that her dad could kiss her forehead. She watched till he'd left then turned back to the computer. "I'm still worried about them," she whispered to Moya. "Mom doesn't look at all happy, I don't think she's happy about the baby."

"Well, don't you worry about that, sweetheart," Moya replied. She thought that Beth had a point, Quinn hadn't looked any less pissed when she'd spoken to her a short while ago. Noah looked happier, for sure, but Quinn didn't. "I think I might come for a visit," she mused and stroked her chin thoughtfully. "I'll be with you at the weekend," she announced. "Don't tell your mom and dad, I want to surprise them," she decided and ended the call. "Surprise them and maybe knock their heads together," Moya thought with a frown. "Smack some sense into both of them. Kids. Damn, they never stop causing you worry, even when they're adults with kids of their own. I'm sorry momma," she whispered to herself in apology for the years of worry she had no doubt caused her own mother.

* * *

"So you finally knocked her up again?" Finn teased when he returned Puck's call.

"Yeah," Puck answered proudly with a big cheesy grin plastered all over his face. He still couldn't quite believe it even after he'd seen the proof. "It's a girl," he added.

"Still no one to carry on the name, then," Finn commented. "I'll swap you. One of your girls for three of our boys," he sighed. "Rach is pregnant again too," he revealed and sighed even harder. "If this is another boy it's just tough, I'm getting a vasectomy regardless," he growled, Puck could imagine the scowl on Finn's face. Puck wasn't totally convinced that Finn would go through with it, he'd been threatening that for the last five years.

"Is she still determined to keep trying for a girl?" Puck asked with a barely held in laugh. Rachel and Finn had produced six kids in less than ten years. All of them boys, all of them loud and obnoxious, all of them miniature Rachels. And Rachel was absolutely _desperate_ for a little girl, just one, and then her family would be complete.

"She has tried every trick and suggestion that she's ever heard of, she's even researched how to get a girl on the fucking internet, " Finn groaned. "I swear, she even scheduled sex for certain times of the day because some freakin' idiot told her that if she got pregnant actually _on the hour_, it would definitely be a girl. I mean, which fucking idiot comes up with shit like that?" he asked. Puck didn't reply, he couldn't, he was almost crying with laughter. Puck wondered if he dare admit that it had been him and Mike who came up with that fake 'sure thing' when they'd all got together for a few days last summer - without the multitude of kids. They'd heard Rachel telling the other girls that she wanted to try to get pregnant again, wanted a baby girl and the rest was born from an encounter with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Or two.

"Well, congrats, anyway," Finn said without any actual cheer in his voice. "Tell Quinn we send our love," he added.

"Will do," Puck agreed. "And you too, dude, I hope you made it this time, then you can go get your nuts sliced and diced," he sniggered before he ended the call. Maybe Rachel and Finn could put on their own production of The Sound of Music. They'd certainly have enough kids for it. Puck sniggered again at the thought then got back to work.

* * *

"Hi," Moya called as Beth let her into the house late on Saturday afternoon. "Oh, sweetie," she crooned as she hugged Beth close. "How is everyone?" she asked quietly.

"Mom's taking a nap and dad's still at work," Beth replied. "He should be home soon."

"No, I'm here," Quinn called wearily from the top of the stairs. "Hi, Moya, how are you, I can't believe you're here, did you know your nana was coming to visit?" she asked Beth, Beth shrugged. "Was it a good trip?"

"It wasn't too bad," Moya answered as Quinn walked down to meet her. They hugged at the bottom of the stairs. "You know, you looked just like this the very first time I met you," she reminded Quinn as she rubbed the little bump of Quinn's tummy. "But your eyes weren't this sad," she whispered into Quinn's ear as she hugged her again. "Talk to me, tell me what's going on with you," she pleaded. Quinn gulped and nodded. Here was her chance, here was the chance to get it out, get it all out, to actually say it, say the words. "Beth, sweetie, could you make me some coffee, please?" Moya asked as she led Quinn to the den where they could relax on the huge comfortable sofa.

"Sure, Nana," Beth replied and skipped to the kitchen.

"Now talk to me," Moya urged Quinn as soon as they were alone.

"He's having an affair," Quinn blurted out then covered her mouth with a trembling hand. "At least I think he _was_ having an affair," she corrected herself, "or maybe he still is, I don't know, I think it might be over now, but only because of this," she told Moya tearfully.

"No, I'm sure..." Moya started to say, to comfort Quinn.

"You really think I'd do that to you?" Puck asked from the doorway, causing both Quinn and Moya to jump, startled when they heard his voice, he sounded so hurt. "Quinn, I would never do that to you. Seriously. I love you, you know that," he insisted and sat down heavily beside her on the sofa. So many things now made sense. Puck pulled Quinn into his arms as she burst into tears and sobbed her heart out.

"I'll go see about that coffee," Moya said quietly, Puck nodded as he drew Quinn onto his lap. Moya looked back from the doorway and sighed as she watched her son slide back, get himself and Quinn comfortable. Beth came through from the kitchen with coffee, Moya shook her head and motioned for her to go back to the kitchen, she followed her granddaughter. "Let's leave your mom and dad to talk," she advised quietly.

Puck waited till Quinn finally stopped crying, he knew, from years and years worth of past experience, that she just had to cry it out. "I'm sorry," Quinn mumbled into Puck's chest once she could speak.

"I can't believe you thought I would cheat on you," Puck said quietly, his lips buried in her hair.

Quinn took another few moments to gather herself. "You can't tell me that something wasn't going on or at least very close to it," she insisted quietly.

Puck closed his eyes and felt the guilt dripping down his back. "I can't deny that the offer was there," he agreed. "But seriously, Quinn, I wouldn't ever do that to you, I'm not that guy," he promised. Quinn tilted her head to look at Puck. "I'm not," he assured her. "Since we were kids, since before Beth was born, for the past fifteen years it's been you, only you," Puck swore.

"And Santana," Quinn huffed, _she_ remembered even if Puck was rewriting ancient history to suit himself.

Puck pushed up so that he leaned over her. "You remember the day you moved in with me?" he asked, Quinn nodded. "Since that day, when you came home with me after the competition, I think it was fate, written in the stars or something because there was never going to be anyone else for me. Ever," Puck told her, so vehemently, he was so absolutely determined that she would know that.

"How?" Quinn cried, getting herself all upset again. "How can you lie to me like that?" she demanded and tried to push Puck out of the way. If he was lying about the Santana thing then he could be lying about _her_.

"I'm not lying to you, I promise," Puck vowed.

"Well _I_ remember hearing you fuck Santana when I first moved into your mom's house, asshole," Quinn growled as she reminded Puck of that night and fought to get up from the sofa. Quinn remembered it as if it was yesterday, the sounds they'd made up in that attic room were burned into her memory like music on a CD. And it still hurt, even after all these years.

"Oh God," Puck sighed, "I knew I should have come clean years ago," he muttered. "Nothing happened with Santana that night," Puck revealed. "I lied, I just wanted to make you jealous," he admitted. "Why do you think she took off so early?" he asked. "She played along for a while but then she wanted more and she wasn't happy when I wouldn't give it. Not that she didn't offer or try to entice me, she did, she was always offering, always trying to get with me. Till she came out," he added. "And that was the only reason she didn't ever rat me out, because I knew about her and Brit long before they went public. There was that one time with her that you knew about, it was that time you and Sam...when you and Sam...the time you were with Sam and something happened, remember?" he asked uncomfortably, Quinn nodded and gulped back a huge wave of emotion, yes, she remembered the time, and she was still horribly embarrassed by it. "Since that one time, the only person I have slept with or had any kind of sexual relationship with, is you. Even when we decided that we shouldn't be together, you know? Before we made it legal. I just didn't want to be with anyone else, nobody else ever measured up," he added softly.

"Really?" Quinn asked quietly, she could feel her heart begging for that to be the truth because even now, she always felt insecure when Santana joined them for any get togethers or reunions.

"Really," Puck confirmed. "Call Santana and ask her if you want," he offered. Puck was pleased that Quinn seemed to be distracted from the whole Dana situation, even though nothing had happened there.

Quinn sat facing Puck but looking at the pattern on the cushion that she was clinging to as if it could protect her from hurt. She tried a number of times to speak but each time her throat closed up. "I really need to know about her," Quinn eventually managed to say quietly with a croaky voice, but she still couldn't look at Puck. "I don't want you to stay with me just because of Beth, just because of this new baby," she informed him then took a chance and looked up into his eyes. Quinn felt herself get swallowed up in his beautiful eyes, she'd always struggled to resist those eyes. "I need you to tell me everything, I need you to be honest with me, for us to have any chance at moving forward from this, I need to know the truth," she explained quietly.

Puck nodded and shifted a little, made sure they were both comfortable, facing each other before he started talking. "For as long as she's worked there, she has always let me know that she is available," he said with almost painful honesty. "And yes, it is flattering, it is an ego boost to know that someone finds you attractive, flirts with you any chance they get. And yes, absolutely, I admit I have not done anything to discourage it and I apologise for that," he told Quinn. Puck's fingertips felt the tiniest jerk as Quinn fought her own instinct to pull her hand out of his light hold. "But I swear, on my life, I have _never_ taken her up on it. It's not like I was even tempted, not really, maybe just for a second but even with all the fighting and stuff, I can honestly say, hand on heart, I have never, _ever_ cheated on you. I love you, Quinn, I always will."

Quinn allowed herself to be engulfed in his arms, she allowed herself to be taken over and comforted. She allowed all of the pent up emotion, the hurt, the anger, the resentment, she allowed it all to just drain away with a physical sense of relief. "You need to shower," she said with a tearful sniff, belatedly realising that Puck was fresh in from work and was very, very dirty.

"Come with me?" Puck invited quietly. He stood and held his hand out for Quinn to take. Carefully, slowly, Quinn placed her hand in Puck's and let him draw her up from the sofa. Puck never blinked as they wound their way out of the den and up the stairs. Puck paused halfway up, a step below Quinn. Gently he guided her face to his, their lips joined, parted, joined, their tongues duelled.

"Oh," Beth breathed as she caught sight of her parents on the stairs, oblivious to anyone around them, they were only aware of each other.

Moya glanced over her shoulder. "They look a little happier, don't they?" she muttered with a wink at Beth. "Thank God," she yelled triumphantly inside her head.

Puck coaxed Quinn towards their bedroom. He slowly guided her into their bathroom and paused. "Shower with me?" he asked hoarsely, his words gruff, almost a growl. Quinn gulped and nodded. They helped each other out of their clothes, dropping each item on the floor with no thought to picking them up later.

Quinn felt cleansed, refreshed, renewed, as the water rained down on her. Puck knelt in front of her, his hands moulded her bump then he moved her leg, widened her stance, gave himself room to touch and tease her, to pleasure and please her. Quinn almost fainted with the strength of the sensations that flooded her entire body. She whimpered and shivered and looked down into Puck's eyes as he looked up into hers. "Now," she managed to groan.

Puck surged to his feet, solidly ready to fulfill her every need. "Like this?" he asked and thrust up into her. Quinn moaned and bit her lip, the crease between her eyebrows deepened as she undulated towards Puck, she lifted her leg to wrap it around his waist. Puck held her leg up even as he bent his knees and pulled her closer. He rocked into her, his movements smooth, rapid. Puck panted, out of breath, he saw the pulse beating in her throat as her head fell back against the tile. Puck growled as he fell on her throat and sucked.

Quinn jerked her head back. "No," she cried, she couldn't go to school with a hickie! What would the students say? What would the principal say?

"Fuck the principal," Puck growled with a grin and sucked on her throat again. Quinn felt him pound inside her, felt him rock her world. "Oh God, Quinn," he groaned as his body tightened, he gripped her even closer to him, pulled her right into him. "Ahhh," he shouted as he let go inside her, filled her. "Hell, yeah," he groaned as he felt Quinn go limp in his arms.

* * *

"Mom? Dad?" Beth called quietly as she knocked on their bedroom door. "Me and Nana are going out to dinner and then to the movies," she informed the silent room. "Maybe they're asleep," she called quietly to Moya.

"Maybe," Moya agreed. "Or maybe they're just busy getting reacquainted," she thought to herself. If Puck had heard what she thought, he might have had to shout something out, something like 'yay, winner'.

Puck had frozen and looked over his shoulder towards the door, he was hoping against hope that Beth didn't come into the room right now. Quinn was busy, incredibly busy, doing something that no daughter should ever see her mother doing. Her lips and tongue were doing things to him that should truly be illegal. And possibly were in Ohio. Thank God they lived in Connecticut. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his mother and his daughter leave the house. "Do that again," he groaned. Quinn did. And again. And again. Puck shivered as he exploded. Quinn literally passed out when Puck returned the favour, she actually blacked out for a few seconds. Puck looked smug and proud of himself once she came round.

* * *

"Mmm, I do so love coming to this restaurant," Moya announced quite loudly while they waited for the hostess to seat them. They were having to wait their turn because they hadn't called ahead to book. "What would you like to eat, sweetie?" she asked Beth as they perused the menu in the comfortable lounge area. "Mmmm," she sighed as she read out some of the items on the menu. "Thank you," she said to the hostess with a pleasant smile as she led both Moya and Beth to a table. "Thank you, Dana," she said as she read the young woman's name tag. Moya gave the girl a considered look then motioned her closer to whisper something. "We're having a little bit of a celebration," she confided to Dana. "My son and his wife are pregnant again, finally, it's been so long we all thought they'd never have any more children," she added with a slightly embarrassed giggle. "Anyway, I know that," she pointed to the huge cake in the well lit fridge, "that is his favourite dessert," she said with a grin. "How about you box it up for me and I'll take it home for them, they'll really appreciate that," she decided. "You probably know them, they come here quite often," she smiled at Dana, "Quinn and Noah Puckerman, although everybody calls my son Puck," she added and watched the slight flick of the eyebrow, the glimmer of annoyance that had flashed across Dana's face. Moya knew her job was done. She had subtly and without bloodshed, told the bitch to stay the fuck away from her son, leave him alone to take care of his family. Moya knew for certain that Quinn had nothing more to worry about.

* * *

"Want me to go make something to eat, bring it back here for a picnic?" Puck's murmured offer into the back of Quinn's neck made her shiver.

"Mmm," Quinn nodded and sighed as she moved sinuously under the covers and the weight of Puck's arm. "Sounds good," she replied in a husky, sexy voice. Puck leaned over a little more and kissed her, drew her further onto her back. It was a long while later that Puck actually forced himself out of bed, out of Quinn's loving arms and into the kitchen.

Puck had pulled some shorts on and was humming, singing and dancing around the kitchen while putting together a tray of snacks and nibbles ready to take upstairs to share with Quinn. "You really got me, you got me so I don't know what I'm doing, oh yeah," he sang with enthusiasm. "You really got me now, you got me so I can't sleep at night, you reall..." he jumped as his mom's voice interrupted his singing.

"Someone sounds happy," Moya said with a grin as she stuck her head into the kitchen. "You sure look happy too," she added. Puck grinned back at his mom and winked. "See you in the morning," she sighed as Puck sprinted back upstairs with the goodies. "We enjoyed the movie, thanks for asking," she called up the stairs after her son's rapidly disappearing back. "Yep," she congratulated herself. "All fixed."

* * *

"Now you're sure you have everything?" Quinn asked Beth for the tenth time in two hours.

"Mom," Beth growled. "I'm only going to be gone for a week," she sighed.

"I know," Quinn cried. "But I'm going to miss you so much," she wailed and hugged her close. "God, I'm going to miss you," she sighed tearfully.

"Are you girls ready?" Puck called from the bottom of the stairs. "Come on, we have to go," he cried as both Quinn and Beth paused at the top of the stairs to hug once again. "Beth, you're going to miss the train," he advised. "And if you do, Madam Natalia will rip me a new one, I promised you'd be there on time," he griped. Puck took Beth's suitcase and tossed it into the back of the truck. Beth and Quinn climbed into the back seat, Puck jumped into the driver's seat and within seconds they were on their way. "So you're sure you have everything?" he asked with a glance in the rearview mirror.

Beth groaned and nodded. "I'm only going to be away for a week," she grumbled happily at her parents. "I'll be back next Friday," she reminded them. Beth was going on a week long, intensive ballet boot camp sort of deal.

"You have money?" Puck asked, ignoring Beth's reminder. Beth nodded. "You have all your gear, right?" he asked, again Beth nodded. "What about your phone?" he asked and sent Quinn a sly wink through the rear view mirror. Yep, his mad skills had not left him, he'd picked Beth's pocket and she had no freakin' idea.

Beth patted her pocket with a smirk. Immediately the smug look on her face turned to one of panic. "We have to go back," she shrieked. "I forgot my phone," Beth wailed. No way could she go halfway across the country without her ever present phone. How would she be able to face-time Jordan if she didn't have her iPhone? And if she didn't face-time him, Candice Walters would sure as hell break her neck to jump in her place, without a shadow of a doubt.

"Maybe you should take this one," Quinn suggested, handing Beth a brand new iPhone15. Beth stared in awe at the new phone in her hand for endless seconds before she squealed excitedly and hugged her mom, prattling on with her thanks. "It's for doing so well this year, both in school and in ballet, your dad suggested it," Quinn told her daughter, laughing happily at the sheer joy on Beth's face. "You can thank him when we get to the station," she told Beth before she wrapped her arms around her dad's neck from behind.

"Thank you, daddy," Beth mumbled as Puck hugged her close before she stepped onto the train along with all the other students from her ballet school.

"No problem, sweetie," Puck muttered before he kissed her head one more time. "Have a great time, work hard and listen to Madam Natalia," he advised. Puck forced himself to let Beth go to let Quinn have one more final hug.

"I can hardly get my arms around you anymore," Beth sobbed when she tried to hug her mom once again. "Bye, baby," she muttered as she bent to talk to her baby sister. "Just you stay there till I get back, ok," she teased.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about there," Quinn replied and kissed Beth's cheeks again, no, nothing to worry about there, the baby wasn't due for another six weeks. "Now you're sure you have everything?" she asked. God, why had they agreed to let Beth go on this stupid ballet trip.

"Yes, I have everything," Beth cried as the conductor called for everyone to be aboard. "Bye," she cried, "see you next week," she yelled.

"Oh God," Quinn wailed as Puck tugged her close to his side. "I hope she doesn't ever want to go away to college," she muttered. "Yale. She has to go to Yale, she can apply to Yale," she insisted to herself as the train drew out of the station and picked up speed.

"Maybe when she's eighteen we'll be more prepared to let her go," Puck suggested with a sad smile. He couldn't possibly imagine letting his baby go out into the big bad world either. How on earth had their parents let them go all those years ago? Quinn looked up at him, Puck laughed. "No, I didn't believe it either, even when I heard the words coming out of my mouth," he admitted with a chuckle. "Come on, let's go home," he encouraged and wrapped his arm around Quinn's shoulder.

* * *

"So how did you manage when she was a baby?" Quinn asked herself. She was absolutely distraught that Beth would be sleeping so far away from her tonight. It brought back memories of all those sad and lonely nights, when Beth was in Kentucky with Frannie and Karl and Puck and Quinn were stuck in Ohio. She sank slowly down in the bath, allowing herself to become completely submerged. Well, almost completely. Quinn jumped when she felt something tap on her island of a tummy.

"You're not trying to drown yourself, are you?" Puck asked with a grin. He was sat on the edge of the tub, he had one hand propped against the wall and with the other he was tapping Quinn's tight skin till the baby jiggled around in her stomach.

"No, I'm not quite that depressed," Quinn replied, mocking herself. "Listen, I know we haven't been out in a while," she said with a shy look at Puck. "I think we should go out to dinner tonight," she announced decisively. "To Kinahara," she added and waited with bated breath for Puck's response.

"Cool," Puck replied and dipped his head to lay a sweet kiss on her lips. "Is there enough room for me in there?" he asked with a flick of his eyebrows. Quinn bit her lip and nodded, she sat forward as Puck quickly undressed and stepped into the tub behind her. "Mmm, you feel amazing," he murmured into her ear as she lay back against him. "Hot. So freakin' hot," he sighed. Quinn shifted teasingly as she felt him grow against the small of her back. "We have the time," he said as he cupped her luscious, voluptuous breasts. Quinn moved more purposefully against him. "Keep that up and we aren't even getting out of the tu-u-u-u-u-b," Puck groaned as Quinn became even more purposeful in her movements, more determined to make him lose it. "Oh God," he sighed as Quinn lowered herself onto him and rocked. Puck lifted his hips up as far as he could, he gripped Quinn's hips and helped her to maintain her rhythm. "Babe," he groaned. "Fuck, you are so..." he hissed and sucked in a breath. He was close, so close. Quinn leaned back, altered the angle of his penetration slightly, she almost screamed in pleasure as her entire body contracted then melted as she flew apart. Puck thrust up one final time, he couldn't get any deeper, he felt Quinn become molten lava, he felt her flow all over him, he shifted quickly, shifted Quinn and pulled out of her, Puck aimed high, his release went flying high in the air then landed in their bath water with a splash. "You've always been able to make me lose it like that," Puck panted against her throat. "You're awesome, just fucking awesome," he sighed. Quinn almost purred. "I have something for you," he murmured into her ear.

"You just gave it to me," Quinn murmured back, "didn't you?" Puck laughed lightly and kissed her neck some more. The water was quite cool by the time they got out of it.

* * *

Quinn led the way into the restaurant, or rather, Quinn's stomach led the way into the restaurant. Subconsciously Quinn had chosen the dress that drew most attention to her seven and a half month pregnant belly. She looked ripe, she looked sweet, she looked amazing. Puck was proudly aware of the looks she drew, Quinn was happily oblivious. Maybe it was deliberate, but Quinn felt the need to constantly rub at her expanded stomach, to soothe the child within, to soothe herself.

"This way please," Dana requested with almost icy politeness and led the way to a table for two in the window. "May I take your drinks order?" she asked.

"Water, please," Quinn replied as she placed her small clutch on the table and placed her left hand on it. The black purse really made the pale skin of her hand stand out and her pale skin really, really made the huge emerald of her new ring pop. Puck had bought her the ring to reaffirm their love and commitment to each other and also because she had never had an engagement ring. Quinn knew that Dana would see it as yet another outward symbol that Quinn had Puck. For keeps.

"I'll have a beer," Puck answered quietly, his eyes were drawn to Quinn, to her ethereal beauty, she looked amazing. How had he ever been tempted to stray from her, even for a second? Puck had no idea, but one thing he knew for sure, it would never, ever happen again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Ownership is neither claimed nor implied.**

***Apologies for the wait, I have been on holiday to Majorca and for once I didn't take my laptop, it was just sun, sea and relaxation for a whole week, bliss.***

**A/N: So how will the future play out? **

"Hi," Beth cried as she all but leapt off the train on Friday night. She ran to greet her parents and got caught up in the tightest, squishiest hug her mom could give her. "Wow," she exclaimed and pressed both hands to her mom's stomach. "Mom, what have you been eating?" she laughed. "This is huge," she giggled to her dad. "What happened? I was gone for a week and boom, she popped?" she demanded joyfully.

"I don't know," Puck replied with a huge grin, he'd thought the same thing this morning when Quinn had waddled down the stairs. "Only five more weeks and your sister will be here," he reminded Beth as they climbed into the truck.

"We've been trying to decide on baby names," Quinn panted, she couldn't really get her breath anymore, the baby was pushing up against her diaphragm, squeezing the air out of her lungs and making eating a thing to dread rather than savour, heart burn really was the pits. "I like Lily," she told Beth and waited for her input.

"I like that," Beth nodded thoughtfully. "Hm, Lily. Lily. Lily Puckerman," she whispered to herself. "Lily Puckerman," she repeated. "Mmm, I like it," she announced with an emphatic nod.

"That makes three of us," Puck said with a huge, cheesy grin. "And is there something _you_ want to tell _us_?" he asked with his eyebrow raised high.

"About what?" Beth asked with interest, she hadn't the faintest idea what her dad was getting at.

"About a guy named Jordan?" Puck expanded and watched Beth's face while he waited for her to add more. "About the fact that he says he's your boyfriend?" he added when Beth remained silent. She chewed her lip nervously. Oh crap, her old phone. Jordan must have called her thinking that she had it with her at ballet camp, Beth didn't know his number off by heart to have been able to contact him with her new phone number and the internet connection out in the asscrack of the back of beyond, where she'd been for the last week, had been sketchy at best. Shit, her dad looked pissed. "Beth, you aren't even fourteen years old yet, there's no damn way you are dating that guy, or any guy come to that," Puck insisted.

"But, dad," Beth cried.

"We'll discuss this again when you're eighteen," Puck replied firmly, interrupting Beth's cry, his eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead.

"But da-ad," Beth wailed.

"We can discuss it when you're twenty-one if you prefer," Puck countered, still without making any eye contact with either Quinn or Beth.

"Mo-om," Beth turned to Quinn and wailed to her too. Quinn said nothing, she'd talk to Puck later, see if she could get him to calm down, change his mind. Quinn couldn't help but have a little giggle to herself, talk about over-protective-dad syndrome!

* * *

"How old were you when you started dating?" Quinn asked as she climbed into bed beside Puck.

"That is so not the point," Puck sighed. "You don't fool me," he advised Quinn as he reached out to pull her into his arms. "I know exactly where this is going, and she is _still_ not dating that guy, or any other guy," he insisted. "And it's late, let's get some sleep, we have that appointment with Dr Clark tomorrow morning, remember?" And anyway, Puck didn't actually _start_ dating anyone, he went from whoring around to being a dad at sixteen and married at seventeen, to his gorgeous, blonde baby mama. And she was still gorgeous even after all these years, especially with that little pregnant waddle she had going on at the moment. Puck shifted against Quinn, his body on fire for her as usual, but he tempered that, controlled his lust to allow her the rest that she so sorely needed, she looked absolutely exhausted.

"We'll agree to shelve this discussion till a later time," Quinn replied diplomatically then yawned delicately behind her hand. In truth, she was tired, way too tired for this particular topic anyway. Quinn lay quietly for a while, unable to switch off her mind despite her exhaustion. "Ok, it's later," she announced firmly an hour later. Quinn struggled to sit up then snapped on the lamp at her side of the bed. "Why can't Beth date?" she asked. "She'll be fourteen years old in two weeks. Even _I_ was allowed to date when I turned fourteen and you know how strict _my_ parents were," she rambled on. Quinn shuffled about to get comfortable. "Don't pretend to be asleep," she grumbled at Puck and nudged him. "Puck," she said. "Puck," she called, louder than before. "Puckerman," she yelled right beside his ear.

"Fuck, Jeez, what?" Puck cried as he shot up, almost banging heads with Quinn. "Is it the baby? Is it coming?" he demanded, blinking owlishly in the unexpectedly bright light of their bedroom.

"Why won't you allow Beth to date?" Quinn asked calmly as she smoothed the covers over her knees.

"_What_?" Puck demanded. "You woke me up to ask me that?"

"Yes," Quinn replied primly. "So come on," she encouraged. "Why can't Beth and this Jordan boy date?" she asked.

"You know how old I was the first time I wanted you? First time I dreamed about getting you naked, about getting inside you?" Puck sighed, he leaned back on the bed on his elbows, with his fists bunched into the covers. "Fourteen. I was fourteen years old. And I tried every trick in the book to get with you," he told her. "Absolutely everything, but you ignored my every move. I would have moved _mountains_ to get you to notice me, I would have slayed dragons for you, but you never even saw me, you only saw Finn. I wanted you to see me so desperately, I even hooked up with some of the most self-centred, self-obsessed, boring people that God ever put on this earth, the damn Cheerios. And you _still_ never noticed me. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when Sue Sylvester upset you so much that day, when I found you crying, it was like the stars had collided or something, everything had fallen into place. Finn was off practicing his singing and dancing with Rachel, your parents were out of town, none of your girls were available for shopping and moral support, so you turned to me. Me. The one guy on the planet you should probably have run a million miles from. But you didn't. And look what happened."

"Yes, so?" Quinn demanded with a puzzled look at Puck.

"We were in your bed inside fifteen minutes," Puck reminded Quinn. "I had your panties off you and your virginity was history within thirty minutes. You think I want that for her?" he asked, hooking his thumb in the general direction of Beth's bedroom, Puck was absolutely incredulous that he should even have to ask that question.

"No, of course not, neither of us wants that for her," Quinn replied and rolled her eyes, "but the best way to make something more exciting and enticing is to make it forbidden," she advised. "If we really don't want anything to happen, if we really want them to take it slow, we invite him in, get to know him, let him get to know us, make sure he knows all about us, about what can happen in life, you know? Make him think twice, three times, whatever, before he'd take a chance on doing something stupid with Beth," she said softly. "And then you take him to one side and let him know that you'll kick his ass all the way to Lima if he tries to so much as look at her in a bathing suit," she added in a harder voice. Puck didn't speak, he grinned and nodded, he could see the logic.

"Fine," Puck sighed tiredly, "she can invite him to her welcome home dinner tomorrow evening," he agreed, "but if I catch him putting the moves on her, he's gone, he is so gone," he promised.

"Cool," Quinn murmured then snapped off the light and shuffled down in the bed to snuggle up to Puck. "Night," she whispered then stroked and kissed his chest. Puck hugged her tight as the tenderness between them evolved into something far more satisfying.

"Mmmm," Puck sighed as his breath slowed down, "I love that we can still do that," he murmured into the back of Quinn's neck, he gently squeezed her breast with one hand and with the other, he rubbed her tight belly. "I think we rocked Lily to sleep," he muttered with a hint of a laugh.

"I think we did," Quinn agreed and turned her head to touch her lips to his. "Night," she whispered again.

"Night," Puck repeated, "I love you," he added softly, but Quinn was already asleep.

* * *

"So what are your plans for the summer, Jordan?" Puck asked as Beth and Quinn brought wonderfully aromatic dishes into the dining room, where he and Jordan were both sat, regarding each other uncomfortably, slightly suspiciously.

"Oh, I, er, I think my dad has plans for me to work with him," Jordan replied cautiously.

"And your dad is a...?" Puck queried, allowing Jordan to answer.

"He's an architect and a contractor. He always wanted to get involved in the builds, to see a project through from start to finish, so he does that too," Jordan quickly answered, Jordan knew it made his dad sound like a really great guy but he also knew his dad was just a control freak who hated anyone getting his plans and designs wrong. "He does a lot for the church, helps parishioners who need work done on their property but can't afford it, a bit like Extreme Makeover but not on such a large scale," he added. Puck nodded, impressed that the guy seemed to be setting a really good example to the boy in front of him. It still didn't mean that he liked the kid sniffing around his baby though.

"So, we thought we might spend a few days hanging at Morris Cove, all the guys are going to be there, Gabby's dad is going to be testing their new boat," Beth said as she took the seat next to Jordan and offered him the steaming bowl of pasta. "Pasta?" she asked and still managed to give Jordan a slightly flirty glance, even in front of her dad.

"I thought you were working with your dad?" Puck pounced immediately on the contradiction.

"I will be but he does let me have some down time too," Jordan answered with a shrug. "Thanks," he muttered to Beth as he helped himself to a decent sized helping of pasta.

"Jeez, the kid can eat," Puck thought to himself as he helped himself to an equally large portion of pasta. Puck scowled at his plate.

"Chicken Parmesan?" Quinn interjected quickly before Puck could say anything else, she thrust one hot dish in front of Beth and Jordan and the other in front of Puck. Quinn glanced at Puck and could see that he was simmering slightly, he looked like he might just blow before the meal ended, he really needed to work on that, Quinn needed to come up with a distraction. "I made you something really special for dessert," she informed Puck with a flirty smile of her own. Quinn bit her lip and looked through her lashes at him, whisking Puck right back to their high school days. God, she could still do it for him, every time. Puck felt the blood rush to his groin and was thankful that the pastel coloured table cloth covered the evidence. Quinn glanced in that direction and lifted one eyebrow, she knew exactly what his reaction would be and she teasingly poked her tongue into her cheek a couple of times, Puck gulped, he loved it when she did that, he knew that as soon as it was physically possible, he was going to get transported to his own personal heaven.

"Oooh," Beth cried, "what's for dessert?" she asked excitedly, her mom was fabulous at making desserts.

"Cannoli?" Puck almost begged. What could make his day any better? Apart from dickwad quitting looking at his baby like she was a piece of chocolate cake to drool over. Chicken Parmesan, cannoli and the promise of a blow job, God, life was treating him good right now. Puck absolutely loved Quinn's current cravings, Italian food and him - more specifically his dick in her mouth - usually in that order.

"Of course," Quinn replied with a grin and sat down next to Puck, opposite Jordan and Beth. Quinn and Beth managed to distract Puck enough to enjoy the meal that they had made for him and Jordan, even Jordan began to relax and be himself around Puck and the atmosphere relaxed somewhat.

"So now that you're out of school for the duration," Puck asked Quinn, turning slightly to his side to ask her, "do you think we can get this nursery painted and everything ready for Lily to join us? We only have a few weeks left," he reminded her unnecessarily.

"Errm, I can help with that," Jordan offered, "if you'd like," he added nervously.

"Really?" Puck asked, taken aback that the youth would offer up his spare time to get covered in paint for no reward. "It's not a paying job," he informed Jordan, "just so you know that upfront."

"It's cool," Jordan replied with a shrug. "I'm usually assigned to my dad's paint crew," he added, letting Puck know that he was more than capable of painting a room. He had a few design ideas for babies rooms that he hadn't been able to get past the project manager on the last few builds that he'd been involved in, he'd been told they'd be too expensive for the limited budget. "I have some ideas," he said, deciding to just come out with it. "Here, check these out," he suggested as he brought up a file on his phone and offered it to Puck and Quinn to look at. "I want to be an interior designer," he murmured with an embarrassed shrug.

"These are really cool," Puck said with absolute honesty. He had to give credit where it was due, the kid really knew how to create a warm, relaxing space or an exciting, stimulating space. "Do you want to come up and look at the room?" he asked, standing up from the table. "Maybe if we give you a few parameters to work with, maybe you can come up with a design for us?" he suggested. Jordan nodded and stood up to follow Puck up the stairs, Quinn and Beth gave each other 'what the hell?' looks.

* * *

"So he's not as bad as you thought?" Quinn asked as she struggled to get her pillows comfortable.

"I'm still holding judgement," Puck sidestepped giving an actual answer. He didn't want to admit that he'd been impressed with the kid, saw that the kid had respect for his elders, respect for Beth too or at least it seemed like he had. He'd see. Maybe. Quinn sighed and got comfortable. "I haven't forgotten, you know," Puck murmured and leaned over her to flick her nipple with his tongue, he blew on the cotton pj top covering her and watched her nipple rise up. "I seem to remember the promise of a blow job," he said with a grin, looking up into Quinn's shining eyes. "I'm willing to get things started," he offered, sounding magnanimous as though it would be a chore to make sweet love to his wife.

"I haven't forgotten either," Quinn replied, struck breathless as the sensations flooding through her right at this second were almost overwhelming. Puck sucked the distended nub into the hot cavern of his mouth. Quinn sucked in her breath. "No, I can't take it, too sensitive," she gulped, pushing Puck further down her body. Puck didn't need Quinn to draw him a map, immediately, he thrust his hand between her thighs and stroked her through her cotton, mid-thigh length, pj pants. "Mmmmm, right there," she sighed and allowed her legs to fall open. Puck happily obliged. "Mmmmm," Quinn groaned as he slipped his hand into the waistband of her pants and slid lower. "Kneel up," she instructed and turned over onto her side slightly. Puck complied in an instant, he knew exactly how this was going to go, it was her favourite, he would kneel at her head so that she could indulge in her passion for his dick in her mouth and he could still reach into her pants to tease her with his dexterous digits.

"Ahhhh," Puck sighed as Quinn kissed along the length of the growing bulge in his boxers. He kept up the strumming movement of the fingers of his right hand - Quinn thanked God for Puck's amazing guitar skills - even as he thrust the fingers of his other hand into her gleaming blonde locks. "God, you're awesome," he groaned and rocked his hips forwards. Quinn looked up through her lashes and smiled, she pulled the waistband down slowly, very slowly. Puck's erection sprang forwards, almost slapping Quinn in the face. She giggled and opened her mouth to catch it. Puck moaned with delight, Quinn maneuvered herself to get into a better position. She hummed as her tongue stroked all the way from his tingling, aching balls to the sensitive, quivering tip. Puck hissed when she took as much of him as she could into her mouth and sucked, sucked him hard. "Fuck," he growled, "fuck, fuck, God I love you."

Puck pulled back when he felt himself getting close, felt the tingle grow, knew that just one more twist from her talented hand, one more suck from her amazing mouth, could make him lose it, big style. Quinn turned over onto her side away from Puck, he slid down behind her and lifted her leg enough to make room for himself, he fed his raging erection into her soaking, weeping slit. Quinn mewled, her body contracted and twisted away from Puck, her head twisted towards him, their lips joined, their tongues tangled together, Puck's fingers nipped and tweaked at her nipples, they rocked together, slammed together, Puck went as deep as he dare, he pulled back, Quinn cried out and pushed back into him, she'd felt the loss acutely. "Careful," Puck groaned into Quinn's ear, his hand slid over her stomach to cradle their baby girl. "God, Quinn," he cried as he exploded inside her, deep inside her, an instant later Quinn felt herself burst into a million pieces.

Beth tiptoed past her parents' room on her way down the stairs, she winced as she heard them, knew that they were in the throes of passion, she gagged and pulled a face. "God, how embarrassing," she thought. "My mom and dad still go at it like rabbits and she's about to pop. Gross!"

"I thought you were never coming," Jordan whispered when Beth finally eased the door open. "Come here," he murmured as he drew her into his arms. "I missed you this week," he admitted. Beth melted a little more at his words. "Please, for me, just this one time," he begged after whispering something into Beth's ear.

"I can't, you know I can't," Beth refused with a nervous giggle, she began to feel rather uncomfortable. Sneaking out to meet Jordan had seemed like such an exciting thing to do when she was planning it in her head, she'd planned the entire romantic conversation in her mind. This was when Jordan would tell her that he loved her, that he would love her for forever, that they would be together for all time, just like her mom and dad. Beth thought that the dream was a lot better than the reality.

"You know there are other girls at school who will put out, right?" Jordan grumbled, pushing Beth away from him a little, they both knew that was true, they both knew the two girls at school who were pregnant already, at fourteen! "Look, if you want to act like a little kid, that's fine, but I'm a dude, I've got needs," he informed Beth with a sneer. Beth didn't reply, she watched Jordan walk away, her heart fell to her feet. Oh God, what should she do now?

* * *

"You've got a spring in your step this morning," Steve, Puck's boss commented with a chuckle on Monday morning. "You get lucky last night or something?"

"Life is good, man, what can I tell you?" Puck replied with a huge cheesy grin before throwing himself into his morning's work. "Last night _and_ this morning, Quinn sure is horny when she's pregnant, it's fucking awesome," he reminded himself silently.

"Puck," Steve shouted over the noise of the workshop a couple of hours later. "Puck, Quinn on the phone for you," he yelled, holding the handset up to gesture for Puck to come to the office.

"Hey babe, s'up?" Puck asked as he tucked the phone between his cheek and his shoulder and wiped his hands on a moist, chemical impregnated cleansing cloth. "Babe, calm down, slower, speak slowly," he advised when he couldn't understand a word that she said. "Holy crap," he hissed. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm fucking sure, you idiot," Quinn yelled. "I should know when I'm in fucking labour, you moron," she growled then moaned as another pain tore through her. Fuck, they both knew that sex at this stage of pregnancy could bring on contractions, and they'd done it a lot over the last few weeks, the past few days more than ever, Quinn was almost insatiable right now, morning, noon and night if she got the opportunity. And Puck never refused.

"Where's Beth?" Puck asked at the same time as he unfastened his overalls.

"Out, she's out with Jordan," Quinn replied, her voice almost a whine. "Please come home, I need you here," she wailed, bursting into tears.

"I'm on my way," Puck assured her then hung up. "Steve?" he called, jogging into the workshop. "I got to go, man, she's in labour," he added.

"Good luck," Steve shouted after Puck's retreating back. "I bet you and Carla don't leave that big an age gap between kids," he called to Joe who was working quietly at the other side of the garage.

"Don't even joke about that, she's already bustin' my balls wanting another kid," Joe grumbled, he shook his head and sighed. "We're eighteen years old, we're barely keeping our heads above water as it is and she wants to try for another? She must be freakin' nuts," he muttered. Joe really loved his son, would do anything for him, but he wasn't ready to do it all again, not just yet, in five or ten years, maybe, but not right now.

* * *

"Quinn?" Puck shouted as he flew through the front door. "Did you call the doctor?" he demanded. He raced in and out of every room downstairs and found no sign of her. "Quinn? Where the fuck are you?" he shouted.

"I'm up here," Quinn replied, she sounded extremely despondent, she sounded like a petulant three-year-old.

"S'up?" Puck asked, a bit puzzled and completely freaked out when he found her, laid on her back on the floor in the yet to be started nursery. "Are you ok?"

"Nope," Quinn replied tearfully. "It wasn't labour," she mumbled. "It was gas," she admitted with a pout.

Puck tried, with immense difficulty, to hold back the laughter. He knew that Quinn would not appreciate any of the jokes or comments that were currently bombarding his brain. "Oh babe," he managed to say before he burst out laughing. "All this time we thought you were pregnant and really, you just needed to fart?" he spluttered. Quinn gave him her ice-maiden stare. Puck stopped laughing abruptly. "Come on," he said, getting down on the floor with her and wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sure it won't be long till Lily puts in her appearance," he assured her. "But I'd rather she stays put for a couple of weeks longer, you know?" he added quietly and pressed a few kisses to Quinn's head.

Quinn sniffed and nodded, she felt stupid, ridiculously stupid. And fat. And uncomfortable. "I need to pee," she grumbled and let Puck help her to her feet. Puck watched with amusement as Quinn sloped away to the bathroom, her shoulders slumped in total dejection.

"Phew," Puck thought, "I am so not ready for this to happen today, we need to get this nursery fixed up, pronto," he sighed to himself as he looked around the as yet unprepared room. "Better see what design this Jordan kid comes up with."

* * *

"Wow, she popped that out quick, I didn't expect you to come back today," Steve commented when Puck walked back into the workshop. "You know, you should take a couple of days at least, I mean, Quinn will need some help with the new baby, won't she?"

"False alarm," Puck replied with a roll of his eyes. "You'd think she'd know the difference between labour pains and gas, right?" he asked with a snort of laughter. "I mean, it's not like she hasn't done this before, right?" he snorted again and shook his head. "Then again," he scoffed, "I might have known, she had no clue when she went into labour before, she just went out on stage and performed with the rest of us, three song and dance numbers then her water broke straight after we got off stage," he sighed, remembering the day that Beth was born in minute detail.

"Hold up," Steve shouted. "Singing and dancing?" he asked incredulously. "You?" he demanded, amusement ready to spill over. "You seriously want me to believe that the badass with the mohawk was into song and dance in high school? Seriously?" Steve couldn't hold it back any longer, he burst out laughing, almost choking himself in an effort to get it together, bring himself back under control.

Joe just looked at Puck in utter amazement. "Mohawk?" he asked.

Puck shook his head. "You had to be there," he said in dismissal. "And hey, you," he called to Steve, "when Marilyn comes to pick you up for your salsa lesson on Saturday, I am not going to lie and tell her you got called out on a tow job, I am going to point her in the direction of the john and tell her you're hiding in there," he informed his boss. Steve quickly stopped laughing, he looked worried. And scared. "Yeah, that shut you up, didn't it?" Puck muttered as he walked away to collect his overalls.

* * *

"This is great," Quinn sighed as she looked over the design that Jordan had created for the nursery. "Puck, look at this," she said with excitement as she handed the tablet over for him to browse through the different pictures showing the room from different angles. "When can you get started?" she asked.

"Tomorrow?" Jordan offered uncertainly. "My dad is willing to excuse me from working with him to concentrate on this project," he explained with a slightly nervous shrug. Jordan glanced over at Beth who was glaring at him slightly. Crap. Jordan wondered if Candice Walters had informed Beth that she had stepped into the breach while Beth had been away at ballet camp, and offered her services for the duration. And what freakin' services. Jordan squirmed a little at the kitchen table, he felt the excitement race through his body and knew exactly where it was going to land. Yep, there it was, in his lap for all the world to see and know he was a freakin' pervert for getting a hard on when he was talking to his girlfriend's parents about a freakin' nursery. But all he could think about was Candice Walters' lips wrapped around his dick. Jordan really wished that Beth would have agreed to do that on Saturday night so he could get Candice out of his head. Crap, what did her dad just say?

"Cool," Puck nodded his agreement. "What do you need to get started?" he asked. "Will you two be ok here if me and Jordan go to the hardware store to get the stuff?" he asked, he really didn't want to leave Quinn alone for too long, this morning might have been a false alarm, but that didn't mean that Lily wasn't getting ready to join them soon.

"Sure," Beth answered with a touch of something in her voice, Puck couldn't tell what it was, but she was looking at the kid like she was going to rip his balls off.

* * *

"Want to tell me what you did to piss my daughter off?" Puck asked as he and Jordan drove away in his truck.

"I'm not sure," Jordan replied with a blatant lie. He knew exactly what had pissed Beth off. First of all he'd kissed another girl behind her back and this other girl had also shown Jordan the benefits of kissing girls who did not respect themselves and who wanted desperately to be older than their fourteen years.

"Well, my advice is to make sure you find out what it is you did then never repeat the mistake," Puck advised as they turned into the huge superstore's parking lot, "because, if Beth is anything like her mother, she can hold a grudge for freakin' years," he sighed, more to himself than Jordan. Puck noted that the kid gulped and looked scared. Yep, he knew what he'd done alright, but as long as he didn't hurt Beth in any way, Puck could let him live. Beth being pissed at him was probably punishment enough, plus, Puck kind of liked the fact that Beth seemed to be cooling off this guy. Awesome.

* * *

"Oh Rachel," Quinn sighed into the phone. "I am so pissed off with all of this," she moaned and rubbed at her stomach where Lily seemed to be trying to push her foot right through Quinn's skin. Even through her dress Quinn could see the shape of the tiny foot. "How have you done this so many times?" she demanded with a childish pout and poked at the foot. "Why?"

"God only knows," Rachel admitted, "but this is the last, I told my OBGYN that I did not want to know the sex of the baby, I'll just wait and see and if it's another boy that pops out of this tired old uterus then Finn can go hang himself because there is no damn way I am getting pregnant again, if he wants a baby girl _that_ much he can carry the next one himself," she announced crossly.

"Wait," Quinn pounced, "I thought it was you that desperately wanted a girl," she told Rachel.

"I only want one because that's all that Finn ever talks about, having a baby girl and calling her Drizzle," Rachel admitted. "Like I'm ever going to let him call my child, Drizzle," she scoffed. "I'd have stopped at two otherwise and now look at me," she groaned, "baking baby number seven even as we speak, I must be freaking nuts," she cried. "I don't want any more babies," she wailed. "I need a nanny," she added as she started to sob uncontrollably.

"You need birth control," Quinn advised and made a mental note to call Finn and put him in the picture. They might have been together forever, but it seemed like Mrs and Mrs Finn Hudson did not communicate with each other at all.

* * *

"Wow," Quinn breathed as Puck led her into the completed nursery. It had only taken Puck and Jordan one weekend to get everything prepped, painted and built, once Jordan had created the mural for the feature wall. The room was now ready for their new little princess to arrive and fill the beautiful oak crib. "It's beautiful, amazing, the wall, it's just, it's so, wow," she said, she couldn't get her words together.

"That's pretty cool," Beth whispered. "Oh, there's Nana, and aunt Frannie," she realised as she saw faces of people that she loved peeking out at her from the huge woodland scene that Jordan had made for one wall. He'd used a program on his computer to create three huge posters that filled the entire wall, he'd photo-shopped friends and family into different characters and creatures who were popping out at Beth and Quinn. Puck changed the lighting a little and the picture took on a different hue, it became a soothing scene, one that a small child would not be too stimulated by. He changed the light again and the original scene popped back into place, the picture that was designed to engage and stimulate tiny, inquisitive minds.

"Look," Quinn giggled as her stomach jiggled up and down. "I think Lily likes her room already," she said with a grin. "Just three more weeks, baby girl," she advised as she lovingly stroked her huge stomach.

* * *

"Are you definitely sure this time?" Puck asked with a grin as he unfastened his overalls. "It definitely isn't gas, right?"

"Oooooh, nooooooo," Quinn cried through gritted teeth. "My water broke just now, this is definitely it," she confirmed then hung up.

"Or you just pissed yourself," Puck thought unkindly then immediately felt apologetic even though he hadn't said it out loud. Puck knew he was just nervous, it had been fourteen years - almost to the day - since they had last been in this position. "Beth?" he said as his call was answered. "Yep, how close are you to home?" he asked. "Good, go be with your mom, I think your sister is on her way," he told his daughter and then had to take the phone away from his ear as her squeal threatened to burst his ear drum.

"Do you think she might hold on till tomorrow?" Beth asked excitedly.

"Better tell your mom to cross her legs if you want the baby to come on your birthday," Puck replied. "Honey, I've got to go, I'm leaving work right now," he told her, "I'll be home as soon as I can."

"I just got here," Beth informed her dad. "Ewww, gross, mom? Did you pee yourself?" she asked, she'd obviously forgotten that her dad was still on the line.

"Beth? Is your mom ok?" Puck demanded, he could hear Quinn's none too quiet pants, grunts and moans in the background. "Tell her I'm on my way, ok? I'll be with you soon, and Beth, bring her bag down from the hall closet," he instructed.

* * *

"I'm here, I'm here," Puck murmured against Quinn's head the second he reached her, she was bent over, leaning against the back of the sofa in the den. "How far apart are the contractions?" he asked.

"About every seven to nine minutes," Beth replied, she'd been timing them because her Nana had told her that she should. "They last about thirty seconds or so," she added because Nana had told her to time that too.

"Cool, so no rush then?" Puck murmured with a hint of sarcasm. He felt Quinn tense up as another contraction built in her, he talked her through her breathing technique, helped her to take control. "Better?" he asked as he felt her relax again. Quinn nodded and licked her dry lips. "So when did the doctor say we should go to the hospital?" he asked.

"Any time now," Beth replied for her mom. "She said when the contractions are consistent and regular that we should make our way to the delivery suite."

"Oh, _we_ should, should we?" Puck asked with a grin. They'd talked about Beth joining them for the birth and wondered if it was a good thing. Puck thought it was an extremely good thing, he could think of no better way to bring home the realities of childbirth than for her to be present at the birth of her baby sister. "Ok, let's go," he said as he helped Quinn to the front door, thankful that she'd changed her clothes, he so didn't want to ruin the seats in his truck.

* * *

"And breathe. Mom, breathe," Beth urged as she rubbed her mom's hand that was gripping her own in an almost bone crushing hold. "And relax," she added as the contraction eased off.

"How are you two doing?" Puck asked as he returned with yet more ice chips. "This is way longer than it took for you to pop out," he informed Beth, Quinn glared at him.

"Pop out?" she demanded. "Pop, fucking, out?" she growled. "I'd like to see you laid here with your feet in fucking stirrups, popping one out," she added nastily and gave Puck a stare that almost melted his junk. Puck knew better than to reply, Beth was trying to contain her shock and surprise and her amusement, she'd never heard her mom say words like _that _before.

* * *

"Almost there, one more, just try one more, come on Quinn, push," Dr Freeman urged.

"I don't want to push any more," Quinn wailed tiredly, she'd been at this for hours and nothing seemed to be happening. "I want the baby to stay here forever," she cried dramatically. "I want Dr Cl-ar-ar-ar-ar-ark," she sobbed.

"Well, she can't and Dr Clark would prefer to be here doing this than in intensive care as a patient, I'm sure," Dr Freeman said sharply, she'd been watching the monitors and had noted that the baby's heartbeat had dipped drastically during the last few contractions, she was getting worried. "Now Quinn, I need you to dig deep, deeper than you ever have before, I need you to push this baby out right now, here's another contraction, go with it. Puuuuuush," she urged forcefully. Quinn couldn't do anything but comply, her body was doing it for her. "That's it, perfect, Quinn, stop, stop, stop, I need you to stop," she shouted as the baby's head emerged. "One second, one second," she muttered to herself as she ran her finger around the baby's neck. "The cord is around her neck," she muttered in an aside to the nurse by her side. "Quinn, Quinn," she called to get Quinn's attention. "Quinn, you need to listen to me right now, ok," she said when Quinn looked at her through tear filled eyes. "I have to try to get the cord from around her neck first, ok?" Quinn snivelled and nodded. "Oh crap," Dr Freeman thought, she could feel that the cord was also wrapped around the baby's arm and there wasn't anything she could do about it right this second, not without performing an episiotomy on Quinn. The doctor picked up the weird shaped scissors from the instrument tray at her side. Carefully, she made a snip, then another. A woosh of fluid cascaded over the floor, the doctor grabbed for the baby who now almost flew into her waiting hands. Quickly she untangled the cord from around baby's left arm and wrist and from around her neck, she turned the baby over onto her stomach across her hand, the little girl was still blue, a darker blue than Dr Freeman had wanted to see. The doctor rubbed the baby's back briskly, handled her quite roughly, Puck thought as he watched in horror, another doctor quickly clamped the cord and cut it, a job that Puck had been planning on doing, but this seemed rushed, no one was talking, something was seriously wrong here.

"What's happening?" Quinn cried, no one was speaking, the baby wasn't crying, she didn't know what was going on.

A flurry of activity was happening on at the other side of the room, doctors and nurses crowded round the large, clear plastic crib where Dr Freeman had laid baby Lily. Someone was holding an oxygen mask near the baby's face, someone else was rubbing her tummy roughly with a towel, someone else had thrust a stethoscope against her chest. All of a sudden the baby coughed and spluttered then cried out weakly, the wail rising, gaining in volume and strength everyone in the room let out a relieved breath that few of them even realised they were holding. It took a few more minutes until Dr Freeman was satisfied that everything was alright with the tiny girl.

"There you go," Dr Freeman sighed as she handed the baby to Quinn, placed her gently into her mother's waiting arms. "She gave me quite a fright there," she admitted.

"But everything's ok now, right?" Puck all but begged.

"Yes, she checks out just fine, her APGAR was a three on delivery but a solid ten at five minutes," Dr Freeman replied, "she was just a little lazy to get going but I think she'll be fine."

* * *

"That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my entire life," Beth told Puck quietly once they had moved to Quinn's room on the maternity ward. Quinn was asleep in the bed, Beth and Puck sat side by side on the sofa, Beth had Lily cradled in her arms, Puck's arm lay along Beth's shoulders. "I never knew, never realised just how hard it is, for a woman I mean." she whispered, as she gazed at her baby sister, trying to sort through her emotions, filter out the best and worst parts of what she'd seen. Beth knew that she had witnessed a life changing moment. "I know what I want to do," she said decisively. "I want to go to Yale and I want to be a doctor, I want to do Dr Freeman's job," she announced with a satisfied smile.

"You know that it doesn't always work out as well as it has today, right?" Puck felt he had to say, he stroked a gentle finger across Lily's brow, Beth nodded and choked back a tear. Yes, she realised that things could have gone so differently today, could have gone so badly wrong and she was grateful that they hadn't and if she could help just one family have this moment, have this feeling, with their healthy baby in their arms then that would be enough. "Hey, happy birthday," he said as he noticed the time, he leaned over and kissed Beth's head. "Is she the coolest present ever?" he teased.

"Happy anniversary to you and mom, too," Beth murmured and kissed her dad's cheek. "I think she's more your present than mine, I'll go with the sound system that we talked about the other day," she decided with a wink.

"Hey," Quinn croaked from the bed at the other side of the room as she woke up. "Happy birthday, darling," she said to Beth. Beth stood and carried the baby over to her mom.

"Happy anniversary," Beth said quietly to Quinn and kissed her cheek. "Thank you," she added as all three of them watched the shifting, changing expressions cross the little girl's face as she slept.

"For what, honey?" Quinn asked.

"For having me, for giving me a fabulous life," Beth answered. "I know you were only two years older than I am when you had me and you could have done things so differently, I know a girl who made a different choice and she cries every day at school," she revealed, Quinn gasped at that, sympathy for the poor girl flooding right through her. "I am so proud of you, proud that you're my parents..._our_ parents, God, _that's _going to be hard to get used to," she giggled.

"And we're proud to be your parents," Puck replied from Quinn's other side. "And any choice you make in the future, college, career, whatever, we will always support you," he reminded Beth.

"One thing that today has brought home to me," Beth added and drew in a nervous breath, "is that I'm not ready to have a boyfriend, especially not one who thinks that fourteen is old enough to do things that could land a girl in this bed right here. I'm happy to just have boys who are friends, I'll leave the rest of it till I'm older. A lot older," she finished with a little giggle. "But not twenty-one, dad, don't get your hopes up." Puck snickered at that and felt a tinge of shame spread all over him. He had been that guy, the one who thought that it was ok to play adult games when really they were still just children. Puck was so glad that Beth did not want to put herself in the same position that he and Quinn had been in, he was so relieved that she was looking towards a bright and sparkling future for herself. And he was proud of her for being able to say, in front of both him and Quinn that the asswipe who had called himself her boyfriend had been putting pressure on her to go further than she was comfortable with. "Dad," Beth said as she saw his face change. "I want you to promise that you won't do anything to Jordan," she demanded, "I am your daughter after all, I took care of it myself," she announced proudly.

"What did you do?" Quinn asked, not quite sure if she felt proud or horrified.

"Called his house and left a message with his mom that his test results were in and could he make an appointment at the STD clinic," Beth giggled.

"That poor kid," Puck thought with a grim laugh. "Serves him right, don't ever mess with a Puckerman."

* * *

"Hello," Moya called as she and Chloe burst through the front door two days later. "Where are they?" she asked Puck who was carrying what looked like a load of fluffy, pink blankets, towards the kitchen.

"The den," Puck replied with a nod of his head in that direction. "And watch yourself, kid can puke," he muttered to himself as he went through the kitchen to the utility room. "And crap," he added as he gagged at the smell from the bundle he'd just unwrapped to thrust into the washing machine.

Puck stood in the doorway and watched his mom, his sister, his wife and his daughter all fawn and coo over the tiny little girl in his mom's arms. "She is so precious," Moya whispered tearfully. "Quinn, you did an amazing job," she said with a sniff, "again."

Puck pushed away from the door frame. "Hey, what about me? Don't I get any praise too?" he teasingly grumbled.

"No," all four of them replied. "You get the fun bit at the beginning, it's the woman who has to endure the hard part at the end," Moya added then looked at her son and smiled. "But you did good, Noah, you did really good," she told him proudly.

Puck walked toward the group and took the baby from his mom. "There are three days in my life that I have never felt prouder of," he said as he swayed slightly to rock the baby. "The day that you were born," he said to Beth and watched her eyes well up, "the day that Lily was born," he added and saw his mom's chin tremble as though she was trying not to cry, then he looked at Quinn, their eyes locked together. "And the day I married you," he said softly, "those are the days that changed my life forever, that made me the man I am, that made me a man I can be proud of being. I love you all so much and I just want you to know that no matter what, I will always be here for you, always." Quinn sobbed first and rushed to hug Puck, he thrust one arm around her, Beth came at him from the other side, careful of Lily in his arms. Moya quietly cried, she couldn't add a word, even Chloe was struck dumb as she tried to get a handle on her emotions.

* * *

"And this is your room," Quinn whispered as she walked around the nursery with the slumbering baby in her arms. "Your daddy did this for you," she said as she looked at the huge mural again, still finding new things to see in it. "Well, he didn't _actually _do it, he had someone do it but he chose it so it's the same thing," she qualified quickly. "But this is the bit I can't wait for you to see," she said, getting back on track. "When I was a little girl, there was a park near my house," Quinn said quietly as she settled into the nursing chair and put her feet up on the matching footstool. "And I loved nothing more than to go there after school. Sometimes my big sister would take me, sometimes my mom, but my favourite times were when my daddy used to take me. He would push me so high on the swings I thought that I was touching heaven," she sighed, smiling at her own fanciful memories. "When I moved in with your daddy and your nana, I could see that little park from your daddy's room," she whispered, "that's why I spent so much time in there. Not because your daddy was hot or anything, not because he could make me shiver inside with just a glance," she said, totally inappropriately, Quinn was so glad that Lily had no idea what she was actually saying. "Well, maybe it was because of that, see, your daddy was such a show off in those days, all the girls were after him, they all chased him, and sometimes he even let them catch him. But I knew what he was up to, I knew that he was always watching me, showing off and flirting in front of me and I liked it," she murmured. "I used to pretend to ignore him, I even dated other guys so that he'd get jealous, blach, I was so stupid, I should just have told him that Finn never meant anything to me, he was a means to an end, a crown that I didn't even really want, all I wanted was for your daddy to love me, which, thinking back, after all this time, I guess he really did and now I've lost the plot, what was I telling you? Oh, yes, the park, Lily, let me just tell you, I'm not always so scatterbrained, mostly I'm really level headed, it's pregnancy that does this to you, there's no wonder your aunt Rachel is completely nuts, I mean seven kids, she must be totally loopy," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Right, back to the story," Quinn sighed as Lily shifted in her arms, stirred as though to wake up. "So, eventually, me and your dad decided that we were meant to be and on Beth's first birthday, we got married and yes, you're absolutely right, we did put the cart before the horse and it will seriously be frowned upon if either you or Beth do the same," she informed the sleeping child. "And a year or so later we moved here, to New Haven. Our first house was so cute, Beth loved the yard, it had a swing set in it and she would play outside for hours and hours. Eventually, after I finished college and got a job, after your dad finished his engineering course and got promoted at work, we bought this house here and the first thing I noticed when we came to view the house before we put in an offer, was the view from this window, because out there, right across there, is Fort Wooster Park and it looks just like the little park my daddy used to take me to," she said with a huge sigh. "And one day, when you're bigger, maybe Beth can take you to the swings, just like your aunt Frannie used to take me, maybe I can take you, just like your grandma used to take me and maybe your daddy can take you too, because he'll be able to push you so high in that swing, your feet will truly touch the sky," she said and nuzzled at Lily's tiny, tiny feet. "And if your daddy doesn't stop listening from the hallway, he might hear your mommy say some bad things about him," she giggled and looked over to the doorway where Puck stood, peeking shyly into the room.

"Did you mean all of that?" he asked nervously. Quinn bit her lip and nodded. "You really did notice me, knew that I wanted you, had feelings for you?" Again Quinn nodded. "And you never thought to tell me before now?" he asked. "Right," he muttered and shook his head, he couldn't feel sad about it, he'd always known, deep down, that Quinn had loved him for forever. "Did you love me?" he asked with the hint of a grin.

"Yes," Quinn replied, a little smile touched her lips, "especially now."


End file.
